Decision Points

arrived at the appointed time, clearly well prepared. “Mr. President, I love your daughter,” he said, and then began a touching speech. After a couple of minutes, I cut him off. “Henry, the answer is yes, you’ve got my permission,” I said. “Now let’s go get Laura.” The look on his face said, “Wait, I’m not done with my talking points!”
    Laura was as thrilled as I was. Wisely, Henry also asked Barbara’s permission. A few weeks later, at Acadia National Park in Maine, heproposed to Jenna. They were married at our ranch in Crawford in May 2008. We had an altar carved out of Texas limestone set on a peninsula in our lake, and our family friend Kirbyjon Caldwell —a wonderful pastor from Houston—officiated at a sunset ceremony. The bride was stunning. Laura and Barbara were radiant. It was one of the joys of my life to walk sweet Jenna down the aisle. After my eight years in the presidency, our family had emerged not only stronger, but bigger, too.

    Walking Jenna down the aisle.
White House/Shealah Craighead

    After I announced my candidacy in Iowa in June 1999, Laura and I went to Maine to visit Mother and Dad. I gave them an update on the campaign. Then the four of us walked out onto the lawn together. At our back was the beautiful Atlantic Ocean. In front of us was a large group of photographers. Mother got off one of her classic one-liners. She looked at the press corps and asked, “Where were you in ’92?”
    I laughed. I was amazed by this wonderful woman. She was responsible for so much good in my life. I turned to Dad. My mind went back to my early days spent looking at pictures of him in scrapbooks. Like those old photos, his face was worn. But his spirit was still strong. I told the press what I had known for a lifetime: It was a huge advantage to be the son of George and Barbara Bush. What a journey we had shared. Seven years earlier, Dad’s final campaign had ended in defeat. Now I was standing proudly at his side, with a chance to become the forty-third president of the United States.

    When I got back to Texas, my first stop was Bob and Jan Bullock’s house. The years of abuse had taken their toll, and Bob’s body was giving out. His skin was losing its color, he was bedridden, and he was wearing an oxygen mask. I gave him a gentle hug. He lifted his mask and picked up a copy of
Newsweek
from his bedside table. My photo was on the cover.
    “How come you didn’t smile?” he said. I laughed. It was vintage Bullock.
    Then he caught me by surprise. “Governor,” he said, “will you eulogize me at my funeral?”
    He slipped his oxygen mask back on and closed his eyes. I told him about my visit to Iowa and my announcement speech at the barbecue. I’m not sure he heard a word I said. After our extraordinary run together, my unlikely friend and I would both be moving on.
    * Don Evans was the campaign chairman; Joe O’Neill was the treasurer; Robert McCleskey handled the accounting.
    ** I am particularly grateful to Commissioner Peter Ueberroth , American League President Bobby Brown , and Jerry Reinsdorf of the Chicago White Sox for their help in navigating the buying process.
    *** The final tally was 110 to 95 in books, 40,347 to 37,343 in pages, and 2,275,297 to 2,032,083 in total square inches.
    **** The team included my friend Jim Francis as chairman; Don Evans as finance director; Karl Rove as the top strategist; Stanford-educated lawyer Vance McMahon as policy director; former Texas Association of School Boards official Margaret LaMontagne as political director; Dan Bartlett , a recent University of Texas graduate, on the communications team; and Israel Hernandez , a hardworking UT grad who took pressure off Laura and me, as traveling aide.

ick’s face was hard to read. He betrayed no emotion. He stared at the cows grazing under the broiling sun at our ranch in Crawford, Texas.
    It was July 3, 2000. Ten weeks earlier, after securing the Republican presidential nomination, I had sent campaign manager Joe Allbaugh to visit Dick Cheney in Dallas. I asked him to find answers to two questions. First, was Dick interested in being a candidate for vice president? If not, was he willing to help me find a running mate?
    Dick told Joe he was happy with his life and finished with politics. But he would be willing to lead the VP search committee.
    As I expected, Dick did a meticulous, thorough job. In our first meeting, I laid out my top criteria for a running mate. I wanted